Sunset Rays
by Dark Sadistic Angel
Summary: Old story. 1x2, 2xH. A bittersweet story of romance told from the viewpoint of the one who lost.


**Sunset Rays**

Disclaimers Apply. By Dark Sadistic Angel. 1x2, 2xH. Angst.

A perfect sunset.

It was one of those surreal ones. The golden, crimson streaked sky kind, by some beautiful beach that was devoid of all people. Everything from the cool, sea fresh breeze lightly blowing, to the wildly beautiful cries of the seabirds triumphing in their natural world, played in the background of the three individuals that stood only a little before the edge of the splashing waves.

It was the perfect situation.

For heartbreak.

Hirde didn't want to be there. For her, the very place spelt hell.

Because Heero was there.

And she damned the boy before her with her eyes, her tense expression and her very soul.

Go away, her green eyes flashed. You don't belong here, they warned. Her heart cried to her mind, however, something different. Don't take Duo away from me. What came out of her mouth was even more different. She was being torn into pieces even as she maintained her façade.

'Why Heero, what a surprise to see you.' She spoke perkily, even if a little fast. A bit on the false edge. 'What are you doing here on Earth? Weren't you suppose to be on L1?'

Or somewhere else light years away? Like some, big, mystic, and convenient black hole?

'I realised… I had to talk to Duo.'

'Oh really?' she laughed lightly.

'Yes, really,' Heero said without humour. 'Preferably alone.'

Her eyes narrowed and she tensed.

He looked at her, and she knew that he saw her clearly for what she was.

A nervous, jealousy filled girlfriend.

Her stomach tightened as she saw the brief flash of relief that passed Heero's almost neutral expression as the other noted her agitated state.

When there was smoke, there was fire after all.

In this case, it was very true.

Duo had been distant recently, she had noticed. More withdrawn into himself since the end of the war. The flashes of a more sombre Duo, had peeked out at her in darkness of the bedroom when she drifted up from sleep and awoke in the night to find the long, chestnut hair man away from her side, sitting on the window seat with his back towards her and his face turned upwards to the stars.

Turned towards the direction of where the L1 cluster glow was visible on the night sky's horizon through the glass.

'I'm not going anywhere,' came a torrent of angry defiance from her lips.

She blinked, in shock at the pure raw emotion that abruptly escaped from her tight control. Heero did too. He was clearly taken aback. Heero recovered quickly though.

'Fine. So stay. I don't care.' He turned to Duo. 'What I care about is…' the normally stiff and sure voice of the one youth who had been a soldier for all of his life sudden wavered, and lowered into an uncertain strain. 'Duo… I care about you. And I thought… you should know… that…'

'Don't say it,' Duo suddenly spoke. 'Don't say it!'

'Duo, I-'

'I don't love you Heero- so don't say it!' The braided boy broke in. 'I love Hirde.'

Hirde was stunned and incredulous at Duo's words.

She couldn't believe it. She had given up all her hopes and dreams to ever hear the words from Duo, and yet, she had heard them, spoken to the boy she had envied deeply ever since she had met him. And seen how Duo acted with him.

That special aura Duo had when…. No.

It had been all in her mind.

Duo loved her. And Duo never lied.

The brown hair boy froze at the proclamation. His eyes register an alternation between disbelief and shock, then, the blue depths blazed sheer raw pain out from within them.

Hirde took a step back from the two as she saw the raw emotion.

It struck at her, tearing away at the bubble of her euphoric happiness as she realised that the proclamation from Duo had a two edge sword. The roles they had were only reversed. Not everything was perfect or simply in their complex triangle. Some one had to lose. Her heart clenched in pain, even as it surged in joy. The clashing emotions only left shock to be expressed on her face, her lips parting yet unable to form words.

Why couldn't they both be happy? But that was impossible. They had fallen for the same person after all.

Someone had to lose.

And as selfish as it was, she was glad it wasn't her.

A mask blanked out Heero's face. All his emitting emotions were suddenly wiped away from his expression. However the mask was too perfect. Beneath the expressionless face, Hirde knew very well that the other was in agony. She had a feeling that it exceeded somehow, anything she had ever experienced before. Heero had lost his only remaining innocence. Emotional innocence. The dreadful wound of heartache and loss was something the child-boy soldier had not experienced up to now.

So what? A selfish part reeled up in defence. So what if Heero was in pain? He would get over it. Not all first loves were like her love- which was true love!

'So everything was a lie. Your companionship… I really thought we had something.'

'Erm… I never lied to you, Heero. We are friends. You may have thought we had something more….'

'How could I not!?' Heero roared.

The brown hair boy had only raised his voice to the level just under a shout, but the mask had broke on the soldier's face.

'You are clearly not a friend to me, Duo. That's why we can never be what you claim we are! You did lie to me! You messed me up! Do you think I wanted to feel this way!? It is because of you! You and your lies! You lie! Maybe not in words, but in everything else Duo. As foolish as I was to believe in there was something behind your masks- something a lot more honest than what you were showing me, I won't be anyone's fool again.' Heero turned and began walking away. Then he paused. Turning his head, he looked back at the two. 'Thank you for at least finally telling me at the truth in clear words. In any case, I truly wish you happiness. I don't know why though.'

Then he left them, his back stiff and proud as he walked up the sand dunes to escape the isolated view of paradise behind him.

Tension ebbed from her. The loss of it was immediately by happiness.

'Oh Duo, I-' Hirde spun wildly and turned towards Duo. 'I don't believe you!' she shouted. Now that Heero was away, her senses had gone into ecstatic overdrive. The enemy had been banished. She had, unbelievably, won. Her knees grew shaky in the aftermath of shock even as Hirde ascended into heaven. She grabbed hold of Duo and hugged him.

'Oh, I don't believe you!'

'I don't believe myself,' came a breathy, surprised voice from Duo.

Hirde stilled.

'Duo?'

'Hirde… I… can't… believe I…' his voice faded. 'I can't believe I just did that. Heero… he… had… and I just… couldn't…'

Icy coldness suddenly drenched her skin.

Her grip on Duo tightened, but neither noticed as her nails drew blood from his skin.

'Duo… did you lie to Heero?'

'Heero… makes me lie,' Duo said shakily. 'I can't explain it, but he makes me lie… each and every time. Just being around him… being near him compels me to do so. Hirde, he scares me! Damn it- he scares the shit of me….'

And Duo collapsed into her. Because Hirde had been leaning against Duo, they both went down in a tangle of limbs. Duo took the fall, but Hirde felt as if it had been her as she lay on top of Duo's heaving chest.

'About what you said before? Was… that a lie? What you told Heero?'

'…yes, it was.'

'You don't love me?'

'Hirde, I can't lie to you,' Duo said hoarsely. 'Not like… him…'

'I see,' she said hollowly.

And that she did. Despite the blurring space that was now before her.

'Hirde…?'

'Can you let go of my arm, Duo?' she said, unnaturally flat. 'Please?'

Duo's warm touch fell away from her.

And then she was off and running. Her body just moved on its own. Just like Duo's mouth, face, expression must have when confronted with Heero- when confronted with such a strong emotion that could not contained or restricted so it just took over the body. Blindly, without thinking, she attempted to focus on running after the small figure in the distance that was Heero. Why, she didn't know. The raging force had simply made her move towards the one individual in the entire universe which she loathed with the core of her being. It didn't take her long to catch up to the boy, who turned in surprise at the soft padding of her running feet in the sand.

'Heero!'

As he finished his turn, Hirde slammed her fist into Heero's jaw. Perhaps it was because she couldn't bear to hurt Duo, she had to take the rage on her on a different target. Heero staggered back at the blow. Rather than being stunned though, the brown hair boy only looked surprised to see Hirde.

'What?'

'You can take him!' Hirde hissed at Heero. 'You can take Duo!'

Why was everything so blurry but those stunning, Prussian blue eyes? Why did they stare into her like she was a madwoman? Because she was? Insanity couldn't take it away though. It couldn't take away the pain she felt.

'He only lies to you! Not me! So go and take him! Take him away from me!' she screamed. 'Take him away because I can't make him happy!'

Her knees gave out and she fell onto the soft sand beneath.

'Please… take him away and make him happy… for me. And make me stop… feeling this pain. I can't take this anymore.' She began sobbing. 'I can't take the hate anymore. If this goes on… I don't want to hate Duo… so please… help me.'

A gentle hand touched her bowed head, and swept down to her shoulders in the briefest of pats.

'I'm sorry. And thank you,' came a husky whisper.

Hirde did not look back as she heard footsteps break into a run away from her.

She didn't want to see the happy scene in the mockery of paradise. So Hirde sat there in the cove grove, and waited for the sun to go down. And felt none of the warm ways that bathed the two figures behind her, far beyond her.

Fin.

_**DSA**_


End file.
